Although investment advisors surveyed for this year’s Brokerage Report Card have enjoyed strong growth in assets under management (AUM) and enhanced productivity as measured by AUM/client household, this positive momentum hasn’t been felt universally across the entire brokerage channel.

BRC 2018: How each firm’s average advisor measures up

BRC 2018: How each firm’s average advisor measures up

BMO Nesbitt Burns

The average advisor at Nesbitt enjoyed one of the biggest jumps in AUM and a similarly strong rise in productivity compared with the brokerage channel, overall. This year, average AUM was up to $204.9 million at Nesbitt, which ranks first among all the firms in the survey. Average client household numbers were up a bit from last year as well, but advisors are enjoying strong productivity gains nonetheless.

BRC 2018: How each firm’s average advisor measures up

Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management (Canada)

Canaccord advisors enjoyed healthy productivity gains this year thanks to a tried and true combination: increasing their AUM while also trimming their client household rosters. Average AUM is now up to $94.8 million despite a drop in client household numbers by about 10%. With these reported gains, Canaccord stands out as a strong, growing national independent firm.

BRC 2018: How each firm’s average advisor measures up

CIBC Wood Gundy

Advisors’ average AUM appears to be virtually unchanged at Wood Gundy this year while productivity has slipped a bit from the previous year. Given the apparent stagnation in these key metrics, it’s not surprising advisor satisfaction has slipped a bit. Case in point: the proportion of Wood Gundy advisors who said they would recommend their firm has declined to 81.6% from 85.4% year-over-year.

BRC 2018: How each firm’s average advisor measures up

Edward Jones

Edward Jones’ advisors may run much smaller books of business than the average advisors at the big, bank-owned dealers, but they’re unquestionably among the happiest with their firm. Edward Jones has a 100% approval rating from its sales force this year as average AUM and productivity were both on the rise.

BRC 2018: How each firm’s average advisor measures up

Leede Jones Gable

Advisors’ average AUM was up sharply at Leede this year, but client household numbers have grown even faster. As a result, average productivity was down from 2017. Nevertheless, the much bigger average book of $49.3 million vs $33.4 million last year has bolstered advisors’ bottom lines as compensation trended higher.

BRC 2018: How each firm’s average advisor measures up

National Bank Financial

NBF has one of the more stable sales forces in this year’s survey. Advisors’ average AUM was more or less unchanged from last year. And although client household numbers ticked up a bit from last year, average productivity edged higher as well.

BRC 2018: How each firm’s average advisor measures up

Odlum Brown

The advisor sales force at Odlum Brown was a little younger in this year’s survey. The average age was down from last year, as was average reported industry experience and tenure with the firm. Accompanying the notably younger sales force, AUM and client numbers were also somewhat lower than last year, but advisor productivity was up a little from the previous survey.

BRC 2018: How each firm’s average advisor measures up

Raymond James

Advisors at Raymond James experienced the same basic trend patterns as the industry, overall: AUM was up solidly year-over-year, with client household numbers up slightly as well. Furthermore, advisor productivity was up significantly from last year. These constructive trends mark the firm as a standout among the independent dealers and within the industry at large.

BRC 2018: How each firm’s average advisor measures up

RBC Dominion Securities

Unlike their counterparts across much of the rest of the brokerage channel this year, DS advisors’ average AUM was down a bit. Yet, client numbers were down at an even faster rate, which enabled a small increase in advisors’ productivity. Nevertheless, DS advisors remained very pleased with their firm as 100% said they would recommend it to another advisor.

BRC 2018: How each firm’s average advisor measures up

Richardson GMP

Average AUM was more or less unchanged among Richardson GMP advisors. Combine this lack of growth in AUM with an increase in client numbers and advisor productivity has slipped a bit from the previous year at the only independent firm that ranked with the big bank-owned dealers in terms of average AUM and productivity.

BRC 2018: How each firm’s average advisor measures up

ScotiaMcLeod

ScotiaMcLeod advisors have taken the top spot within the brokerage channel in terms of AUM/client household this year. In fact, they ranked as the most productive in this year’s survey thanks to a combination of solid growth in AUM and a decline in client household numbers. This elevated status was apparently rewarded as more than a quarter of ScotiaMcLeod advisors reported that they earned more than $1 million in annual compensation in the past year.

BRC 2018: How each firm’s average advisor measures up

TD Wealth Private Investment Advice

The advisors at TD Wealth PIA increased their productivity this year, largely due to cutting their client household numbers, while average AUM remained more or less unchanged from 2017. Yet, this rise in productivity doesn’t translate into greater advisor satisfaction as only 68.8% said they would recommend their firm, down from 81.6% in last year’s survey.

According to the data collected this year, advisors with some firms are doing better than others, and the underlying trends among these firms diverge quite widely. Specifically, advisors at some firms reported that AUM is stagnant, or has even declined a bit, compared with last year’s survey. As well, advisor productivity has declined a bit at a couple of firms.

There are no clear trends to this in terms of the types of firms. A couple of the strongest gainers were bank-owned dealers (BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. and ScotiaMcLeod Inc.), but there are other bank-owned dealers among the brokerage channel’s laggards. At the same time, advisors with some national independents, such as Raymond James Ltd. and Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management (Canada), also reported robust gains.

It’s also important to remember that when focusing in on the data for individual firms, sample sizes are inevitably smaller than for the overall average and, therefore, the data are noisier and less reliable. With that caveat in mind, this year’s survey reveals some of the disparate and diverging trends underlying the brokerage channel’s top-line growth.

View the slideshow to see how the average advisor for each firm measures up.